Chapter 134 - Gathering the troops

**Hopes pov**

It was time, we had gone over all our information, made some last minute changes but now we were ready. The hours spent on the road here had been quiet, most conserving their strength, or devoting their thoughts to the loved ones they had left at home and hoped to return to. The buses we traveled in were parked in a large parking lot outside the city’s sports arena, no one would suspect that they did not belong there. Our numbers were large and with the vampires we would be a small army.
The night before had been happy and relaxed, no hostility at all between the pack members and the newcomers. Patric had let the punished warrior out of the ring and together they had enjoyed the feast’s food and bonded. I was both happy and relieved that Zandra was home again. She hadn’t wanted to talk about her time with Ambrogio but said it was important to her to just spend time with me and the rest of the pack. I didn’t object, I wanted her to be the most comfortable of all so she wouldn’t leave us again, Luna agreed with me, she wanted her best friend close. The only one who didn’t enjoy the evening was Anton’s father, he knew there was a very good chance it would be his last, but instead of spending it with his son, he preferred the company of a bottle. When his mate died in the hospital his wolf started to get weaker, it didn’t want to be anymore, probably after watching her fight all these years, he had probably fought his human too. Callum had ordered him to stay within the confines of the pack so he wouldn’t try to take his chance to escape.
Zandra and Callum came up to me, Callum was quiet and bothered, when I thought about it he had been since last night. But I could understand him, he was Alpha, he asked his warriors to risk their lives so that others would be safe. Even though he knew they willingly did it, it was difficult. I had never seen him before a battle before so I assumed this was how he normally was. I wrapped my arms around his waist and leaned my head against his chest. His heartbeat always had a calming effect on me. *Beacon, keep him safe*. He responded by kissing my head.
“Zandra, I still don’t like you being here…I would have preferred if you stayed with Maya, Zara and the pack.” I took her hand and squeezed it. She looked like a warrior queen. Her clothes were in thin black leather with embroidery in various patterns and characters, the coat almost reached the ground. Her hair was braided in a thick braid that lay over one shoulder.
“I need to be here Hope...I’ve never let Luna go to war without me before and I’m not about to start now. I got benched during your save, it won’t happen again.” She gave Callum a stern look.
“Well, if we find ourselves at a disadvantage you can dazzle them with your beauty, you look as beautiful as you look dangerous Zandra.”
“They should be here soon right? Are we the ones who are early?” Callum was referring to Ambrogio and his children, they hadn’t turned up yet and I hadn’t wanted to say anything but a couple more minutes and they would be late.
“They will show up…” Zandra’s gaze was drawn to the edge of the forest at the side of the arena.
“I thought he wanted this as much as we did, if not more, why come at the last second?” There was a tone of annoyance in Callum’s voice.
“Ambrogio has other things than war plans around him that require his attention.” Zandra’s voice was low, was that worry I heard? I could feel Luna focusing on her, something was off. A silence fell between the three of us for a little while. I followed Zandra’s gaze towards the edge of the forest. It was dark calm and still. The arena’s floodlights didn’t reach the trees so the lit part drew patterns on the parts they managed to touch. Suddenly I saw the dark fields spread out, like a mass growing to destroy the light.
“He’s here...” Zandra’s voice contained as much relief as longing and when I looked at her she looked both sad and determined.
“Zandra?...Is everything okay?”
“Hope…Luna…my beloved girls…everything is as the gods have decreed, that’s all that matters. I want you to listen to me now, what I have to say is important…This battle will change a lot, many will not return home, but their sacrifice will not be in vain. You will be faced with difficult choices, you will want to help those close to you with no thought of the price...Luna, I want you to listen carefully...I want you to think back to the night before Aayla’s last war...”
I could feel her searching through her memories before shutting me out.
The dark mass grew larger before it was defeated by the light of the headlights and turned into figures, figures coming towards us, walking on two legs. The vampires had arrived.
“Alpha Callum, Hope...” He mentioned our names but his focus wasn’t on us. He hurried over to Zandra and took her face in his hands. His eyes alone could have devoured her, but he left it to his lips, and she let him. I was as fascinated as I was amazed when I looked at them. I had seen it before in Zandra’s make-believe world, but out here, in the real world, it was something completely different. They embraced each other as if they had been separated for a hundred years rather than twenty-four hours. When their lips finally let go, they stood with their foreheads against each other and their eyes closed. I looked at all his children, there were many of them and they also looked at Zandra with longing and admiration in their eyes. What had really happened when she was with him? With them? I saw Fredrick, Brad..but not Tony. He should have been by his father’s side, now if ever, yet I could not see him anywhere.
“Ambrogio!” He let out a deep sigh to show that taking him from Zandra was a bad idea. I couldn’t help rolling my eyes.
“Where’s Tony? I can’t see him...”
“He is not here, he has a more important mission at home.”
“More important than a war against the Sons? What could be more important than that?” For the first time, Ambrogio looked at me without curiosity or admiration in his eyes. He had always respected me, wanted to get to know me...but now his gaze was dark, filled with impatience and I could tell he was annoyed.
“Forgive me Ambrogio, it’s not my place to know what goes on inside your walls…I just know we could need him.” His gaze softened at my apology and he added his charming smile. He let go of Zandra and came over to me, taking me from Callum’s arms and pulling me into his. Of course not without a faint growl escaping Callum.
“Sweet Hope…Luna…Believe me when I say that nothing is more important than what Tony is doing right now…he was the only one who could do it in my place.” I nodded silently as I heard the pain in his voice. I believed him, no doubt, I believed him.
“We don’t know how this night will end, so I want to say a few things, if you’ll let me? If you both let me? He looked deep into my eyes, his golden eyes meant so many things to me. They were the ones Aayla saw in the cave when he killed her mother...They were the ones Theresa saw when Charles fell to the ground dead on the battlefield. They were the ones I saw so much emotion in when we sat outside the cave the first time we met, when he bared his heart in the story of his history. They were also the ones who glowed in the hatch when he roared at me to pull myself together and wake up when he, Reece and Callum saved me from the hunters...They were the ones who shed tears as he knelt down to mourn a bird that same night.
Suddenly my heart was filled with a strange feeling, it was as obvious as it was foreign, that Luna felt the same only reinforced it. The feeling was one of kinship, a family bond...our enemy had become our friend and our friend had become our brother.
“Ambrogio...you don’t have to say anything...”
“Well, I do…you see, I’ve got a new daughter…she’s going to be strong, have a destiny to count on…It’s her Tony watches over…If I don’t make it through the night , if for some reason I don’t return home...then she and Tony will rule the vampires. You need to teach her my history Luna...the bare truth without censorships...our history.” His voice in my ear was as pleading as it was fatherly. I looked up at him but couldn’t say anything, all I could do was nod a silent promise that I would do what he asked.